Window Great , I ironically dubbed it. A good attempt but insanity removing the Start button, I was so glad when it came back in 8.1. It had a tough act to follow after Win 7 which was the be Desktop OS Microsoft produced.

Windows 8 was a bit of an odd ball, especially without the start menu. Microsoft tried something and it didn't really work as they had intented, but it did lay the building blocks for what they did with 10.

Overall it was a good attempt to begin to bridge the gaps between desktop and mobile computing platforms. You might say it was still incomplete when it was released, but Windows 10 has resolved a bunch of issues that frustrated Windows 8 users.

Microsoft Windows 8 Pro was a good operating system, but it lacked the familiar menus and start button that many older people had become accustomed to using. 8.1 was a much needed improvement for usability.

This product started off rocky but i still liked it. The Windows 8.1 update 1 is giving it a new life. After this update it is now my favorite OS and it's sync-ability with all of my other Microsoft products is amazing. I love you Windows 8.1 i don't care what anyone says.

Still getting used this OS, but so far it has been really good.
I am in love with the Hybrid boot- as it boots much faster than any of Windows' predecessors.
Not to thrilled about the Start Menu gone though. While I know you can use Stardock or Classic Start to bring it back, it is a bit annoying to have to install some third-party software to retain a functionality that should be built-in to Windows.

I have been running it since RC1 (in Virtualbox primarily) and actually really like it.
It has been the first offering from Microsoft to tempt me back into the fold after Vista sold me on Linux. 7 was pretty good, infinitely better than Vista, but other than running it as a VM or on my laptop it was not good enough for me to want to replace Linux.
I am so over all the people bitching about the start menu. I find it to be a huge improvement, and the convergance with portable devices makes good sense.
I have also found that users who have a smart phone, ipad or android tablet, don't have any issues with the new interface once they have pinned their most used programs to the start page.
Search is great, performance is great, not insisting on installing 20,000,000 updates before you can pick up your laptop or tablet and leave is so much of an improvement that I would put up with a lot of other crap just for that alone.
Performance on old hardware, stuff that haemorages with 7, is really good too.

Not real big on 8 yet. I'm all for upgrading and keeping up with the latest OS but this one really had some serious changes. Users tend to hate windows 8 at least at first. I never thought I'd see the day that I said I didn't like the "new" but here we are. Never say Never kids!! But as far as its operation efficiency stability and its over all a good release.
But like I said....The users have to use it. Microsoft should be more subtle with these changes such as the most obvious "Start button" lol that should have been slowly changed to where we are now with the "Start" it isn't very logical if you ask me.

The best thing I can say about Windows 8 is that is it reasonably stable. Everything else about it frustrates me. They made basic elements of the UI entirely unintuitive by completely hiding them and expecting you to find the "hot" corners. Multi-monitor support was more or less bollocks at launch, although that has improved significantly. I have forced myself to use it for awhile now but if it were not the third party application, "Classic Start Menu" I would have removed it and installed Windows 7 Pro.
I could rant for awhile but won't. The bottom line for me is it seems like a typical "middle" release for Microsoft. I will wait for Windows 9 and expect that they have worked out the kinks by then.

A solid OS with a number of improvements over windows 7. It does take a little time to get used to but once you stop expecting it to be win 7 and actually learn how it works I've come to significantly prefer it.

I’m a big fan of Windows 8 (and the 8.1 upgrade). Although the new Start menu takes some getting used to, it’s simple to use, and after a couple of hours, you’re able to navigate as quickly as any other Windows version. Full support for touch screens and multi-touch trackpads gives multiple options for getting things done.
Performance has been great on every computer I’ve tried. If your computer can run Windows 7, it can run Windows 8. I’ve installed on computers running Windows XP; if you have an old computer with a dual-core process or and at least 2 GB RAM, you might be able to breathe new life into it.
Many of the complaints with “base” Windows 8 have been fixed in 8.1, and Microsoft isn’t done improving the OS. New updates are around the corner, it looks like Microsoft is paying attention to user suggestions and making real improvements.
While the new Start menu is still a polarizing element, I don’t think it’s going anywhere; as people get used to it, the complaints will cease, and it will be just “Windows”. This is a great OS.

Great OS and have had very little issues with it. We did not deploy Win8 to the masses and held off for Win8.1. That was only so we did not have to upgrade them, not because we had issues with Win8 itself.